Young people ageing out of institutional care are to receive housing assistance of Rs. 2 million under the “Diviyata Saviyak” programme, the Ministry of Women and Child Affairs has said.
The assistance is for individuals over 18 years of age who are leaving institutional care and integrating into society, NewsFirst reported.
Minister Saroja Savithri Paulraj said the Western Province phase of the programme will begin the day after tomorrow — 17 September — at the Presidential Secretariat, under the patronage of the President.
What the money can be used for
Recipients may use the grant to repair a house, build a house or purchase a house. The Minister did not set out further conditions.
Why this particular cohort
Leaving institutional care at 18 is one of the sharper cliff edges in the social protection system. A young person raised in a children’s home loses their accommodation on turning 18 without the family housing most others fall back on, and without a deposit or a credit history. A capital grant tied to that transition addresses a gap that recurrent cash transfers do not.
The Ministry has not said how many people are expected to qualify.
Update (September 17): programme launched, costings published
The programme was launched on September 17 at the Presidential Secretariat under the patronage of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, NewsFirst reported. It is being run under the theme “A Strong Foundation For A Beautiful Life,” drawn from the government’s policy statement “A Rich Country – A Beautiful Life.”
NewsFirst said the 2026 Budget allocates Rs. 2 million per beneficiary for 834 beneficiaries. The Island reported the allocation as LKR 2,000 million — Rs. 2 billion — providing assistance of up to Rs. 2 million per beneficiary.
The two figures are consistent rather than conflicting: 834 grants at the full Rs. 2 million ceiling would come to Rs. 1.668 billion, some Rs. 332 million below the allocation. Because the Island describes the Rs. 2 million as a maximum, not a flat payment, the gap is headroom rather than an unexplained surplus.
This is an extension, not a new scheme
The Island’s account resolves the question left open on September 15. The programme originates in a 2025 Budget proposal, and the Cabinet approved it on 18 August 2025 as a scheme to provide financial assistance for housing to low-income couples transitioning from institutional care to society. The 2026 Budget did not create it; it funded and widened it.
The widening is substantial. Cabinet has since approved three beneficiary groups on a resolution by the Minister of Women and Child Affairs:
- Individuals below 45 years of age who left institutional care at 18 or earlier and have no access to a stable, secure residence
- Families with children in vulnerable or at-risk situations, where the absence of a stable family background or livelihood has left them without adequate housing or living in unsafe conditions
- Children aged 16 to 18 currently in institutional care, and those over 18 who remain in child development centres because they have been unable to reintegrate
That extends the scheme well beyond the original “couples” framing — to single individuals, to families who were never in institutional care at all, and to children still inside the system.
The permitted uses are also broader than first reported: purchasing land, purchasing land and building on it, building on land already owned, buying a house, or renovating an existing one.
Still not reported
The reports do not say how the 834 beneficiaries were selected or how many applied, when provinces beyond the Western Province phase follow, or how applications are made and assessed. They do not say whether the Department of Probation and Child Care Services administers the grant, whether money is released to the recipient or to a contractor, or whether it is staged against construction progress. No income test is specified for the first group beyond the absence of a secure residence, and nothing is said about what happens to a recipient who cannot buy or build within Rs. 2 million.
